Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature in Translation
Fall 2013
Time: MWF 11:00 am - 11:50 am Location: Anderson Hall 422
Instructor: Dr. Yun Zhu (yun.zhu@temple.edu) Office: Anderson 351
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 12:55 pm – 1:55 pm, or by appointment
Course Description
This course focuses on 20th- and 21st-century literature from China. Among the major themes of the course are socio-political and cultural upheaval and transformation, fiction and nation, and gender, race and class relations. Students will read representative literature of various genres (short stories, novels, drama, etc.). Selected documentaries and feature films will supplement the literary texts. The course will help familiarize students with major writers and with the cultural and historical contexts in which they produced their works.
The format of the course will be lecture-discussion. Each student will be required to give a
presentation and submit five short essays to Blackboard Discussions. Both the midterm and the final exams will be composed of an essay section and a series of short-answer questions drawn from the course materials and lectures. A 5-7 page paper will be due in class on Wed. 11/27. The course will be conducted in English, and no knowledge of Chinese language will be required.
Course Outcomes
In this course, students will:
acquire a basic familiarity with Chinese literature and cultural history of the recent two centuries;
appreciate and enjoy the fun of literature, and deepen their understanding of the major genres and themes under discussion;
practice and improve their reading, writing, and analytical skills;
Evaluation and Course Requirements
Attendance & Participation 15%
Individual Presentation (10 minutes) 10% Blackboard Discussions (150 Words x 5) 15%
Pop Quizzes 10%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 15%
Term Paper (5-7 Pages, Times New Roman 12, double-spaced) 20%
Grades will be assigned as follows:
92.5% and above: A 90-92.49%: A- 87.5-89.99%: B+ 82.5-87.49%: B 80-82.49%: B- 77.5-79.99%: C+ 72.5-77.49%: C 70-72.49%: C- 67.5-69.99%: D+ 62.5-67.49%: D 60-62.49%: D- Below 60%: F Disabilities Statement
This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements for participation. Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should both contact Disability Resources and Services (http://www.temple.edu/studentaffairs/disability/index.html) and meet the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible.
Honor Code
Students are expected to practice the highest possible standards of academic integrity and should avoid any form of dishonesty, including plagiarism (from books, internet sources, or other people’s works). Please refer to “Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities” at
http://policies.temple.edu/PDF/99.pdf for information, and the university statement on plagiarism and cheating can be accessed at http://ww2.cis.temple.edu/cis166/plagiarism.htm. Please note that
according to the statement “The penalty for plagiarism or cheating as a first offense is normally an "F" in the course in which the offense is committed and a report to the Dean. A subsequent offense may, in addition, be referred to the university disciplinary committee.”
Policy on Attendance and Participation
Much emphasis will be placed upon class participation, which includes timely attendance and active as well as constructive participation in class.
Excused Absences: The only excused absences are either those for which a student arranged
for an absence three days or more in advance in order to observe a religious holiday or those for documented university-authorized absences.
Unexcused Absences: You will be allowed four unexcused absences. If you are sick or have a
family emergency or have to attend to some other matter that keeps you from class, that absence will count as one of the four. If you have more than four unexcused absences, your grade will be automatically lowered half a grade. For example, a B+ under this policy would be lowered to a B.
Tardiness: Class begins on the hour. If you are not present and seated at the start of class, you
will be counted as absent. Please also be informed that most pop-up quizzes will be given at the beginning of class, and no makeup quizzes will be given except for prearranged absences to observe a religious holiday.
Make-Up Exams: Normally no makeup tests/exams will be allowed, unless with proper
documentation and timely notice.
Preparation for Class
Students are expected to come to class prepared. For this purpose, it is likely that most students will have to spend 4.5-6 hours a week outside of class studying the required materials and working on the assignments. Please bring the required readings with you (hard copy) to class; failures to do so will be counted as absences from class. The recommended materials are only for those (especially presenters) looking for extra information. They are not required and will not be tested on.
Pop Quizzes:
Pop quizzes will be given from time to time at the start of a class meeting without prior notice to check students’ readiness for class. Most quizzes will consist of one or two questions about some specific (but not too detailed) content from the readings or films.
In cases when you do not know the answer to a day’s quiz questions, please still turn in the answer sheet with your name on it. Otherwise, you will be marked as absent for the day.
Presentation
Each student will give a 10 minute presentation based on the materials they have signed up for. The presentations are expected to provide contextual information, provoke critical thoughts, raise questions, and trigger class discussions. You are required to talk to the instructor (for suggested readings, etc.) when you prepare for your presentation.
Blackboard Reflections
Students will be assigned five 150-word reflections on the course materials to submit through
Blackboard. The deadlines have been highlighted in the schedule. You are highly encouraged to write and post your reflections ahead of the deadlines to help with class discussions. Also, you are welcome to write “reflections upon reflections,” i.e., responses to others’ reflections, but these will not be counted or credited. We will discuss all the postings in class.
Term Paper
A 5-7 page term paper will be due in class on Wednesday, November 27th, 2013. In the process of developing your argument and writing your paper, you are required to meet the instructor at least twice (see the suggested timeline in the schedule) to discuss your paper project. A written paper proposal and an outline will be due respectively at these meetings. You are welcome to discuss early drafts with the instructor before final submission.
Policy on Late Assignments
Late assignments (including papers) will be read and commented on, but every day of lateness will be penalized with a deduction of 20% from the points gained for the assignment.
Religious Holidays
If religious holidays prevent you from attending class or fulfilling course requirements on time, your absence will be excused and you may make up the missed work. However, you must inform the instructor within two weeks of the beginning of the semester – or three days before any holiday that fall within the first two weeks of class.
* This syllabus is a guideline for the course and is subject to change with advance notice. Please check your email/Blackboard for updates.
** All the required texts and films have been put on reserve at the library. For the required reading assignments, please print out and bring the hard copies with you to class.
Required Course Materials
All the required readings are on reserve in the library, and you can access them via the library website under “Reserves.”
Schedule
Mon. 8/26 Introduction
Wed. 8/28 In-Class Viewing & Discussion: Clips from The Last Emperor (1987, dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
Fri. 8/30 In-Class Viewing & Discussion: Clips from Shadow Magic (2000, dir. Ann Hu) Mon. 9/2 LABOR DAY HOLLIDAY – NO CLASS
Wed. 9/4 Required Reading: Excerpt from Liu E, The Travels of Lao Can (1903), Chapter One, pp. 9-17
Fri. 9/6 Required Reading: Excerpts from Qiu Jin, Stones of the Jingwei Bird (1905-1907),
Writing Women in Modern China, 39-78
Mon. 9/9 Continued Discussion on Qiu Jin
Wed. 9/11 Required Reading: Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman” (1918), The Real Story of Ah-Q and
Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun, pp. 21-31
Fri. 9/13 Continued Discussion on “Diary of a Madman”
* Recommended Reading: Xiaobing Tang, “Lu Xun’s ‘Diary of a Madman’ and a
Chinese Modernism,” Chinese Modern: The Heroic and the Quotidian, 49-73
Mon. 9/16 Required Reading: Lu Xun, “The Real Story of Ah-Q” (1921), The Real Story of Ah-Q
and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun, pp. 79-123
Wed. 9/18 Continued Discussion on “The Real Story of Ah-Q”
* Recommended Reading: Lydia H. Liu, “Translating National Character: Lu Xun and
Arthur Smith,” Translingual Practice: Literature, National Culture, and Translated
Fri. 9/20 Required Reading: Yu Dafu, “Sinking” (1921), The Columbia Anthology of Modern
Chinese Literature, pp. 31-55.
* Recommended Reading: Shu-Mei Shih, “The Libidinal and the National: The
Morality of Decadence in Yu Dafu, Teng Gu, and Others,” The Lure of the Modern:
Writing Modernism in Semicolonial China, 1917-1937, pp. 110-127
Mon. 9/23 Required Reading: Shi Zhecun, “One Evening in the Rainy Season” (1929), The
Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, pp. 116-124
* Recommended Reading: Shu-Mei Shih, “Capitalism and Interiority: Shi Zhecun’s
Tales of the Erotic-Grotesque,” The Lure of the Modern: Writing Modernism in
Semicolonial China, 1917-1937, pp. 339-370 Wed. 9/25 Continued Discussion on Yu Dafu and Shi Zhecun
Fri. 9/27 Required Reading: Mao Dun, “Spring Silkworms” (1932), The Columbia Anthology of
Modern Chinese Literature, pp. 56-73
Mon. 9/30 Required Reading: Ding Ling, “When I Was In Xia Village” (1940), The Columbia
Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, pp. 132-146
Wed. 10/2 Required Reading: Eileen Chang, “Love in a Fallen City” (1943), Love in a Fallen City, pp. 109-167
* Recommended Reading: Leo Ou-fan Lee, “Eileen Chang: Romances in a Fallen City,” Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930-1945, pp. 267-303
Fri. 10/4 Continued Discussion on Eileen Chang
Second Blackboard Reflection Due 12 Noon
Mon. 10/7 In-Class Viewing and Discussion: Spring in A Small Town (aka Xiaocheng zhi chun in Paley Library catalog, 1948, dir. Fei Mu)
* Recommended Reading: Carolyn FitzGerald, “Between Forgetting and the
Repetition of Memory: Fei Mu’s Aesthetics of Desolation in Spring in A Small Town,”
Fragmenting Modernisms: Chinese Wartime Literature, Art, and Film, 1937-49, 169-216
Wed. 10/9 Continued Discussion on Wartime Literature Fri. 10/11 Midterm
Mon. 10/14 Required Viewing: Crows and Sparrows (aka Wu ya yu ma que in Paley Library catalog, 1949, dir. Zheng Junli)
* Recommended Viewing: Yiman Wang, “Crows and Sparrows: Allegory on a
Historical Threshold,” Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes (British Film Institute,
2006), 65-72
Wed. 10/16 Required Reading: Excerpts from Yang Mo, Song of Youth, Chapters 5&12 of Part 1, pp. 37-46 & 111-121
Fri. 10/18 Continued Discussion on Song of Youth
* Recommended Reading: Krista Van Fleit Hang, “People’s Literature and a
Construction of a New Chinese Literary Tradition,” Literature the People Love: Reading Chinese Texts from the Early Maoist Period (1949-1966), pp. 1-22 Third Blackboard Reflection Due 12 Noon
Mon. 10/21 Required Reading: Wang Meng, “Tales of New Cathay” (1978), The Columbia
Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, pp. 285-300
* Recommended Reading: Yi-Tsi Mei Feuerwerker, “Text, Intertext, and the
Representation of the Writing Self in Lu Xun, Yu Dafu, and Wang Meng,” From May
Fourth to June Fourth: Fiction and Film in Twentieth-Century China, pp. 167-193 Wed. 10/23 Required Reading: Zhang Jie, “Love Must Not Be Forgotten” (1979), The Vintage
Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction, pp. 205-219
Fri. 10/25 Continued Discussion on “Love Must Not Be Forgotten”
* Recommended Reading: Lydia H. Liu, “Invention and Intervention: The Female
Tradition in Modern Chinese Literature,” Gender Politics in Modern China: Writing
and Feminism, pp. 33-57
Mon. 10/28 Required Reading: Mo Yan, “Autumn Waters” (1984), The Columbia Anthology of
Modern Chinese Literature (1995 edition), pp. 429-443
The Maoist Period, 1949-1976
Wed. 10/30 Required Viewing: Red Sorghum (1988, dir. Zhang Yimou) Fri. 11/1 Continued Discussion on Mo Yan and the “Root Seeking” School
* Recommended Reading: Li Qingxi, “Searching for Roots: Anticultural Return in
Mainland Chinese Literature of the 1980s,” Chinese Literature in the Second Half of a
Modern Century: A Critical Survey, pp. 110-123 Fourth Blackboard Reflection Due 12 Noon
Mon. 11/4 Required Reading: Gao Xingjian, “The Other Shore” (1986), The Other Shore, 1-44 Wed. 11/6 Continued Discussion on “The Other Shore”
* Recommended Online Research: Yu Jian, Mou Sen, Jiang Yue, Cui Jian, and Their “The Other Shore” Projects
Fri. 11/8 Required Reading: Excerpts from Wang Shuo, Hot and Cold, Measure for Measure (1986), China: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, pp. 143-168
Mon. 11/11 Continued Discussion on Wang Shuo and the “Hooligan Literature”
* Recommended Reading: Yomi Braester, “Memory at a Standstill: From Mao History
to Hooligan History.” Witness Against History: Literature, Film, and Public Discourse
in Twentieth-Century China, pp. 192–205
Wed. 11/13 Required Reading: Wang Xiaobo, Excerpt from “The Golden Age” (1991), Wang in
Love and Bondage: Three Novellas by Wang Xiaobo, pp. 61-106 [You are highly
encouraged to read the entire story on pp. 61-118, and the book is on reserve at Paley Library]
By 12 noon today, you should have talked to Dr. Zhu about you term paper proposal.
Fri. 11/15 Required Viewing: East Palace, West Palace (aka Dong gong xi gong in Paley Library catalog, 1996, dir. Zhang Yuan)
Fifth Blackboard Reflection Due 12 Noon Mon. 11/18 Continued Discussion on Wang Xiaobo
* Recommended Reading: Michael Berry, “Yunnan 1968,” A History of Pain: Trauma
in Modern Chinese Literature and Film, pp. 253-297
Wed. 11/20 Required Reading: Chun Sue, “Born at the Wrong Time” (2000), The Columbia
Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, pp. 480-498
By 12 noon today, you should have talked to Dr. Zhu about you term paper outline.
Fri. 11/22 Continued Discussion on Chun Sue
* Recommended Reading: Howard Goldblatt, “Fictional China,” China's
Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines, pp. 163-176
Mon. 11/25 Required Reading: Excerpts from Mo Yan, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (2006), Chapters 1-2, pp. 3-19
Wed. 11/27 Required Reading: Excerpts from Mo Yan, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, Chapters 9-11, pp. 82-105
Term Paper Due in Class by 12 Noon & Blackboard SafeAssignment Submission by 11:59pm
Fri. 11/29 THANKGIVING HOLLIDAY – NO CLASS
Mon. 12/2 Continued Discussion on Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out Wed. 12/4 Wrap-Up
